BajaNomad

Gem car trouble

vandenberg - 12-16-2015 at 01:17 PM

Any of you folks familiar with a Gem car?
I have a 2007 two seater. Went north for 7 weeks and when I got back the car will not run. Was running perfect before we left and was also fully charged.
Why would batteries go bad in a matter of 7 weeks?
Any advice or suggestions welcome.

desertcpl - 12-16-2015 at 01:33 PM

here is a link for Gem car forum,, a lot of info

http://www.electricforum.com/cars/golf-carts-neighborhood-ve...

LancairDriver - 12-16-2015 at 03:26 PM

I have the same GEM that I keep in my hanger at Stead airport in Reno and I am over there infrequently. I also keep it charged and it had the same problem you had. Dead battery's. My first thought was that I'm going to have to buy a whole lot of new batteries. The batteries wouldn't take a charge so I took each one out one at a time after filling each one up with DI water as they were very low and that was the probable cause. Put a trickle charge on for a few hours on each battery and then hit it with a full 10amp charge. Amazingly they all came to life and are over five years old and still going strong. I am more careful about the acid level and that seems to do the trick. Hope that will work in your case.

StuckSucks - 12-16-2015 at 03:43 PM

Get a battery tender at Amazon or the auto parts store - I bet that will solve the problem (along with watching water levels).

LancairDriver - 12-16-2015 at 03:55 PM

The six 12vdc batteries are in series and the built in GEM charger charges them at 72 volts, so using any of the other 12 volt common chargers presents a little problem that I haven't figured out how to solve. Maybe someone will have some ideas.

TMW - 12-16-2015 at 04:15 PM

If it's going to set for any length of time disconnect the batteries so it can't discharge thru the circuitry.